Traywick starting design firm

MIDWEST CITY,Okla.— Saundra Lee Traywick, formerly vice president and head of the design department at Chateau Home Furnishings, officially started her own design company on Sunday.

Traywick, whose last day at Chateau was Jan. 7, said the new company would most likely bear the name Open Door Designs. The firm, she said, would be focused on higher-end retailers, such as Neiman Marcus and Horchow, looking to differentiate their offerings in the market.

"Everyone is simply out there tweaking what has already been done," Traywick said. "I want to give them unique product and design, then they can manufacture it wherever they want. No one is going to buy for $200 what they can get for $29.99."

Traywick said that she could act as liaison with the client’s manufacturer of choice, managing the process.

The company will design product such as stockings, tree skirts, mantle cloths, round tabletoppers, runners, decorative pillows and window panels. Traywick said she also plans to branch out into purses and furniture such as storage benches with the help of her husband Walt, a builder who will construct prototypes.